You are part of a management team, working for a major national clothing chain. You compete directly with Macy’s, Dillard’s, and Nordstrom’s. Recently, your organization has been experiencing increasing competition from two sources. First, discount stores such as Walmart and Target have been undercutting your prices because they buy their clothes from low-cost foreign manufacturers, whereas you buy most of yours from high-quality domestic suppliers. Discount stores have been attracting your customers who buy at the low end of the price range. Second, small boutiques opening in malls provide high-price designer clothing and are attracting your customers at the high end of the market. Your company has become stuck in the middle, and you have to decide what to do:
Low-cost: Should you start to buy abroad so you can lower your prices and pursue a low-cost strategy?
Differentiator: Should you focus on the high end of the market and become more of a differentiator?
Stuck in the Middle: Should you try to pursue both a low-cost strategy and a differentiation strategy?
Please read the section in your text about scenario planning. Based on the three options above, prepare three different plans. Your analyses should include future opportunities or threats under each condition.